Incentive For Early Commitment

If you haven't already read my blog from yesterday morning entitled  Sale Ends Tomorrow... Yeah, Right!  I'd suggest doing so now to fully understand the basis of today's idea.

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I left the health store with the mindset of proving to the sales person just how long I could wait before making a purchase if in fact I ever did do business with her company.  I began to feel bad for my daughters as we walked through the mall.  All of this walking up and down the isles from store to store was setting their legs on fire.  Actually that may have been the neatly folded cash from grandma that was burning a hole through their pocket.  I bit the bullet. Made the ultimate sacrifice.  I set my kids free in the Disney Store to blow their money.  

My oldest daughter, Halee stood gazing with a stuffed animal and Hannah Montana karaoke gear in hand.  What caught her eye?  There was a huge display of newly distributed High School Musical 3 merchandise.  This time, a much more trained (in product knowledge as well as knowledge of customer demographic) sales person approached.  The sales rep immediately she began to connect with the emotions and desire that she knew Halee was battling.  

What do I get?  I can't get it all... so, what?

The sales rep must have heard my wife and I encouraging her to wait until she knew exactly what she wanted before making a purchase.  "Don't just get something, just to blow the money" my wife would tell her.  If you'll remember my story from yesterday, that's what customers have been trained to do by sales organizations.

This time, the sales rep had a much better option.  "If you pre-order the new High School Musical DVD, you get a discount on any other HSM item" she said.  WOW!  Suddenly it didn't matter which she picked.  It would be at a discount.  All Halee needed to do was go ahead and pay for the DVD she wanted to get anyway.  A bonus for not waiting.  Decision made!  Because Disney chose to reward customers for buying early rather than holding off until the next hit came out to give an incentive for purchasing this HSM DVD, their sales numbers will likely be way ahead of pace before the first copies ship to the stores.

What if a car dealership did this?  What if you visit a car dealership next August, only to find the 2009 model cars at regular price but the chance to pre-order a brand new 2010 model and get a $5,000 rebate?  Suddenly, the way people buy cars would change.  Granted, that may mean the manufacturers have to take a huge hit on the 2009 models, but it's really them who caused this whole fiasco anyway.  Isn't it.  One move like the incentive to pre-buy and over night car dealerships would regain the upper hand in the negotiating room.  Something they lost years ago.

What are the things you can do to reward your customers for committing early?  Find a good way and you'll save yourself a ton of stress at the end of your sales cycle.

JC